Making Headlines
by Skinny Bitch
Summary: Tom Welling's May 2008 Vogue fashion shoot inspired me by some odd whim of the muses. Here it's a skillful but struggling new girl that holds the powers & double life, while Clark reigns the bullpen & shares her penchant for uncovering special truths...


It feels strange to say that my inspiration came from the pages of a magazine shoot (even if it did feature Tom Welling), but there you are...Basically the new main character is the one with the abilities and the dual-identity, not our Clark. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Smallville and Vogue does though.

* * *

Clark Kent loosened his tie slightly as the sun finally streamed through the louvers of his office window. When he had arrived earlier that morning, it had still been cool and dark as the sun continued its slow ascent into the sky. Now it had finally breached some of the tall buildings around his own, penetrating the glassy surfaces of the city skyscrapers.

If he closed the blinds, the dusky feeling would only add to the stifling mess he was immersed in. He felt on edge as he surveyed the piles of work stacking up visibly around him, a mocking reminder of the rare couple of days he had been forced to take out of town for work. His position had been delegated to the next in power on his staff, but despite his hopes, no one seemed up to the task of replacing him in his duties as editor. The evidence of this fact was unfortunately mounting up around him.

As he reached down to pull open his bottom desk drawer, his office door burst open, sending a few of the papers that were resting precariously atop the piles fluttering lightly to the floor.

Clark rose up to peer over his desktop and saw his top reporter with her hand on the handle as she leaned into it, shutting it quickly on those staring in - many of whom directed affronted looks at the woman who had just come tearing through their work station.

"Miss James." Clark made his presence known, causing the young woman to jump up from her slumped position against his door.

Her voice was frantic. "Mr. Kent, I-I'm sorry I'm so late. I was running here because I missed my ride and then I found out that I left something at home, then I was on my way back and went to get on the metro-"

"Sophie."

"...when I was stopped because out of nowhere this rush of people came through the station, so I tried to find out if I could get around the crowd by taking the-"

"That's _enough_."

Sophie froze at the tone of her editor's voice. He didn't usually get angry, but she knew that she had pushed it. She stopped her whirlwind explanation, closing her mouth abruptly.

"Sit down, please."

She quickly perched in the closest chair and watched apprehensively as her boss slowly stood and walked around the desk.

He stood in front of her, "I may not have been here the whole week Sophie, but this is the third day in a row that you've been late."

She looked down at the hands in her lap, her shoulders sagging. "I know."

Clark waited for her to say something that might make more sense than her previous rambling, but she remained silent. She was slightly anxious about the way he'd responded, seeing as he was always so patient.

"You don't have to tell me exactly what is going on Miss James, but I can't say I'm happy that you come in here and insult me with excuses."

Sophie's eyes widened at his words. She knew she had deserved this, but it was still hard to take. Especially from him.

"I didn't mean-"

He put his hand up, motioning for her to stop.

"Sophie, look at me."

Though she hard time meeting his stare, his hard gaze softened.

"I understand that life can be hectic at times, trust me..." he swept his hand around him unnecessarily to indicate the sea of papers. "But you also have not been turning in the same quality of work lately, especially the last article you gave me...I read it this morning, and I could tell by the first sentence that you were distracted when you were writing it."

Clark folded his arms in front of him, resisting the urge to pace. "I just need to know that whatever it is you've gotten yourself into is going to let up soon so you can get back to your job."

Sophie's eyebrows knitted, "I, well-" she paused, sighing resignedly, "I hope so."

He regarded her silently for a moment while she fidgeted in her seat, then walked over to his office door. Turning the knob, he pulled it open, "Good. I don't want to see another article like that again."

Sophie looked up ruefully before she noticed the slight smirk on her editor's face. He was facing away from the door though, so only she could see. She understood then what he was doing.

She nodded emphatically. "Yes sir. I'm sorry sir."

There was a twinkle in his eye as he placed a hand on her shoulder and lead her out of his door. "Now get to work, I expect the best..."

"Yes, Mr. Kent." she responded loudly for the listening room around her. "And once again-"

"Now."

"Oh." she whirled around and fled to the direction of her desk.

Clark shut his door, shaking his head bemusedly, his eyes coming to rest once again on the hectic state of his office. He let out a sigh. What was he going to do with that girl?

* * *

Sophie dropped into her desk chair, its squeaky protest earning her the evil eye from a few of her surrounding coworkers. She let out a sigh, her head falling into her hands. She had to figure out how to fix her situation. In fact, she had to readjust her entire life if she was going to get anything right at this point. It was one thing to get yelled at by Kohler, the replacement editor that had been breathing down her neck the last few days, but being reprimanded by _him_...Sophie made a face, rubbing her temples. She had to stop thinking about her editor in that way.

Suddenly an enthusiastic voice interrupted her train of thought. "Hey! Sophie, I heard you got in late." the voice dropped, "I hope that everything went alright with the Chief...because you know he's been having a really rough morning. Kohler is in some _really_ hot water right now." his voice barely concealed his glee.

"Jimmy, I ca...what? Really?" she turned to face him in her swivel chair.

Jimmy perched on the corner of her desk leaning in to whisper. "Yeah, when the chief got in and saw the state of his office, well, you know how much he likes keeping things in order and..."

Sophie pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. After all she had taken, just letting Kohler rail on her, it was time that he was set straight. Her thoughts strayed back to where she was trying to keep them from. It figured that he would be the one...

A hand waved in front of her face. "Hello, Earth to Sophie. Where'd you go?" Jimmy laughed.

He'd had to bear the brunt of an argument when attempting to intercede for Sophie's sake. He had been burned by Kohler for that, but everyone except the object of his affection seemed to know why he had done it. He had tried to be tough...fearless even. It hadn't quite worked out that way, in fact Sophie had just gotten in more trouble.

"Does this mean that you don't really have to move down to the basement?"

Jimmy gave a sheepish grin. "No. Chief made that clear this morning. Though I barely got to thank him. You know how he is when he has a temper..." he trailed off, mentally shuddering.

"Thanks again for standing up for me, Olsen. I really appreciated...well, thanks for trying." She beamed, eliciting a toothy grin from her friend, who puffed out his chest a little.

"No problem. All in the line of duty."

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Speaking of..."

A voice rang through the room, "Olsen!"

Jimmy jumped up. "Uh...I have to get back to..."

"You're line of duty?" Sophie finished for him.

"Right." She watched him blush as he scurried away.


End file.
